I shook my head and wandered down the hall to the room RJ had destroyed. I dropped my borrowed high heels on the ground. There was no way I was bringing them up to my room. If my father saw me with another pair of high heels he’d ground me for the rest of my life.

My sneakers were still lying there so I slid them on. I tried to focus on the laces, but my bottom lip started trembling. Seriously...how had I messed everything up so badly? There was a hole in the ceiling and I’d just given my first kiss to a stranger. The ache in my chest was back. Stronger than ever. I just wanted to climb into my bed and pretend this night had never happened.

But first I had to get to my bed.

I pushed the beanbag to the side and pulled the ladder beneath the huge hole in the ceiling. I would also be grounded for the rest of my life if my parents ever saw this. I pushed up the carpet and climbed through. Hopefully no one would fall before I had a chance to help fix the floor. Because now they’d be falling right onto a ladder. It was a freaking death trap. I pulled the carpet back in place and slowly opened the door and looked both ways.

There was no one in the hallway. And I didn’t hear one peep. The coast was clear. Sometimes my mom wandered downstairs late at night to write. But maybe she’d fallen asleep early after...ew. No. I wasn’t thinking about RJ’s weird security footage.

I tiptoed down the hall and peered out into the living room. Everything was dark. Possibly even too dark for Briggs or Porter to see me. Maybe my luck was finally turning around.

I tiptoed toward the stairs. My foot hit the first step when the lights in the kitchen came on.

My mom was sitting there with a cup of tea and a knowing look.

Screw my life.

Chapter 15 – I Did Not Call Your Father a Dick

Friday

I froze on the steps. As if maybe my mom hadn’t actually seen me. And that maybe if I was able to stay completely still she never would.

But no such luck.

“I’ve been waiting for you to get home,” she said.

Crap!

She blew on her cup of tea and set it down. And then her eyebrows pulled together. “Wait.” She looked to the left toward the hallway to the front door. “Did you not come in through the front door?”